G'Day USA social competition

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G'Day USA social competition

Tourism Australia and Qantas invited the Australian tourism industry to submit their best social posts from 2016. Three of the top submissions have been picked to win a return trip for two to see their content featured on the big screen at the G’Day LA Gala dinner on 28 January 2017 in Los Angeles.

Best Photo - The Margaret River Discovery Co

Looks like these two kangaroos were feeling the romance - you can't fight the moonlight, after all!

The Margaret River Discovery Co took out the Best Photo category with an extraordinary image of two kangaroos ‘feeling the romance’ to the backdrop of a spectacular full moon. Owner/operator Sean Blocksidge described the scene as “the most nuts beautiful” he’d ever seen, and although he nearly missed his moment as his camera was in the car, he managed to sneak back into position and capture it perfectly. The photo went viral and was featured by media organisations all over the globe including The Mail UK, Buzzfeed, Mashable, Channel 7 and ABC, as well as on Tourism Western Australia and Tourism Australia’s social media channels where it attracted more than 72,000 likes and several hundred comments. Sean said he was offered numerous amounts for exclusivity, but opted to provide the image for free as he figured “it was more valuable as destination promotion for Australia and the Margaret River Region”.

Best Video - The Australian Reptile Park

Little George has been busy stealing hearts over at The Australian Reptile Park

The judges selected the Australian Reptile Park as the winner of the Best Video category for their adorable video of George the baby wombat and his devoted carer Tim Faulkner. George was brought to the Australian Reptile Park as an orphaned wombat and wildlife conservationist Tim became his new 'fill-in' family, providing him with the food he needed and the cuddles he craved. Four months later, this cute critter was well and truly in the fast lane to a happier life ahead, and the team at the Australian Reptile Park decided to film the ‘beautiful bond’ between Tim and George. The video was insanely popular and was picked up by more than 20 national and international news outlets including the Daily Telegraph, National Geographic online, Buzzfeed and even The Project on Channel 10. It was featured on Tourism Australia’s Facebook page where it had a phenomenal 32 million views, 350,000 likes/reactions and 92,000 comments. The park’s ‘book now’ button click through rate increased 77% on the day the video was published, and they gained 14,000 new followers on Facebook as a result.

Best Overall - Symbio Wildlife Park

This butterfly taking over Willow's photoshoot is the cutest thing you will ever see!

The Best Overall social media post category was awarded to Symbio Wildlife Park, for their ridiculously cute video of a butterfly photobombing Willow the koala joey’s photoshoot. Willow spotted the butterfly and decided to take a closer look, but the insect had other ideas and decided to perch itself on her nose! The resulting footage shows Willow looking rather bewildered as she tries to get a better look at the creature which had taken up residency on her nose. The video immediately went viral and had over 38 million combined views on Symbio and UNILAD’s social media channels, plus an additional 2.3 million views and over 74,000 likes/reactions on Tourism Australia’s Facebook page. Global media coverage also ensued, from Fox News, BBC Worldwide, Good Morning America, CNN and copious other outlets. Kevin Fallon, Marketing and Creative Services Manager from Symbio, confirmed that following the video visitation at the park increased 66% from any previous October, and 35% over any other month in the park’s 45 year history – “smashing all visitation and financial records.” The judges were particularly impressed by the fact that the park has seen an overall 96% increase in visitation since 2014-15, which Kevin attributes primarily to their success on social media.

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